- Hysteron proteron
The hysteron proteron ("latter before") is a
rhetoric al device in which the first key word of the idea refers to something that happens temporally later than the second key word. The goal is to call attention to the more important idea by placing it first.The standard example comes from the "
Aeneid " ofVirgil : "Moriamur, et in media arma ruamus" ("Let us die, and charge into the thick of the fight"; ii. 353).An example of hysteron proteron encountered in everyday life is that of a person getting up and putting on their "shoes and socks", rather than socks and shoes.
On a larger scale, the structure of
Homer 's "Odyssey " also takes advantage of hysteron proteron strategies. The epic begins by narratingTelemachus ' difficulties dealing with his mother's suitors and his search for information about his years-missing father, events that, temporally, occur nearly at the end of the overall sequence. When the poem introducesOdysseus , it does so after he has spent seven years in captivity on Calypso's island and is finally leaving; he builds a raft but is shipwrecked. He relates to his hosts, thePhaeacians , the adventures that brought him to this point, bringing the story up to his stay on Calypso's island. The Phaeacians help him finish his voyage, and he returns toIthaca where he meets up with Telemachus and, together, the two deal with the suitors, who were the poem's first main concern.In this way, the "Odyssey"'s use of hysteron proteron shares elements with frame narratives, which remain a popular device today in movies and fiction.
In addition to being a rhetorical device, the hysteron proteron can be used to describe a situation that is the reverse of the natural or logical order. "Putting the cart before the horse" and "topsy-turvydom" are examples/synonyms of hysteron proteron. [cite web |url= http://dictionary.oed.com |title= Oxford English Dictionary |accessdate=2007-04-02]
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References
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